Four Islamist terror suspects have been arrested in the UK for allegedly plotting to kidnap a British ambassador for negotiating the release of a jailed Norway-based fundamentalist preacher.
The men, held in the north of England under European arrest warrants yesterday, are accused of being part of an Islamist network that sent fighters to Iraq and Syria, discussed attacks on embassies in the Middle East and plotted to kidnap British and Norwegian diplomats, 'The Times' reported.
Eleven more alleged members were arrested in Finland, Norway and Italy yesterday but other suspects were said to have fled to Islamic State (ISIS) territory.
Italian police who coordinated the raids described them as the "most important international police operation in Europe in 20 years".
Giuseppe Governale, of the Special Operations Group, said that they had dismantled a cell with clear links to ISIS that also reached into Switzerland and Germany.
The four arrrested will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today to face extradition to Italy over international terrorism offences.
None of the arrested is a British national but Italian police said that the men were in the country legally.
Investigators accuse them of belonging to a group called Rawti Shax, which is described as a "terrorist organisation of Kurdish-Sunni origin".
It has traditionally been linked to al Qaeda but has also sent men from Europe to join the dreaded ISIS.
